members of the computer hope family. this is my 1

[truenorth]

Greetings to all of you of the Computer Hope family,This is my 1st post. I am somewhat uncertain as to whether the choice of this forum(hardware) is the appropriate one as the problem may be a "Windows" or a "software " issue. But certainly hardware is adversely affected ie my computer no longer works. I shall begin by copying for your guidance the full tech support i have sent H.P. and as yet unanswered.
country_areacode : 11
country : Canada [CA]
problem_area : boot up/lock up
purchase_date : Nov/2004
serial_number : MX31307267
operating_system : Microsoft Windows XP
model_number : DC479A
accessory_items :
other_accessory :
cddvd_installed : select
error_message : disk boot failure,insert system disk and press enter
problem_description : Chris at your telephone tech support has urged me
to contact you with my problem on the above noted computer.he has urged
me to be as detailed as i can.I have been using this machine for a long
time with no problems at all.yesterday with the telephone assistance of
the mfgr. of an external Buffalo 250gb usb external harddrive we
partitioned and installed that device to the computer.i then using a usb
portable flash drive transferred software programs and data from another
of our computers to the portable Buffalo H/D.None to the "C" drive of
the presario.I then using the safe removal icon on the task bar
disconnected and removed the flash drive.i continued to use the computer
for a number of hours after that with no problem.we always shut down our
computers at bedtime and restart them in the morning.i contacted Buffalo
to ensure that i had shut down my computer and external H/D properly and
they said yes i had.when i started the computer this morning i recieved
the above noted error message after the initial page showing the orange
Compaq logo with the "press F1 for setup or press F10 for recovery.
Never having seen that error message before i shut the computer off by
the front button.i restarted and pressed F1 and a page "CMOS setup
utility" came up. I don't know what if anything i should do on that page
or any of the other options available across the top of that utility. on
the main page the only thing i see that to me(but perhaps it is normal-i
don't know) is that beside "primary master and primary slave " the
displayed value in both cases is "none".
trouble_shooting : I tried starting the computer with the external H/D
totally removed from the computer it made no difference in the outcome.
setting_changes : See box 1 above.if you need further information from
me please advise. Chris assigned me a case # it is 7337514004. i sure
hope i can get to use this computer again soon as at 67 years of age it
is a great source of enjoyment to me. thank you.PS i am on a dial up 56k
modem.
tech_skill : beginner
This computer is a Compaq Presario model S3200NX ,Athlon 2400 2.0 ghz ,120 gb h/d,256 gb ram (2 modules), O/S Win Xp-pro SP2.
to weed out some suggestions i have had this problem before on this and other computers and have always resolved them by one of the following solutions: removing a 3 1/2 floppy that had been left in the drive at shutdown,removing and repositioning or securing ram modules,removing and reinstalling the idee cable (hope i have that right) from the harddrive (this one actually occured a long time ago on this computer and was resolved by the just stated procedure). In this case none of those procedures have changed anything.I have gone to the Microsoft site and downloaded and created the 6 xp-pro sp2 boot disks on 6 floppies in case they might become needed. However i am very leary of doing anything with them yet as i am concerned that that process could be very destructive wherein i might lose everything on the computer and have to reinstall the O/S and typical of all computers sold over that last number of years an O/S system disk is not provided.Have been using computers since 1995 but xp only for about only 6 months.I "Hope" i have found the right "Computer" forum and that you guys and gals can help me out of this dilema. truenorth

[uesquebeathus]

first choice try
when the boot up screen gives you an option for " F1 " press the key the Bios setup screen most likely should give you a list of options can you see an option load default settings if so select that and then click the yes box it should then restart.
second choice try
the second option on the boot up screen select the second of the list then look for boot options first boot should be hard drive C try and select that then click the yes box and reboot.
  

[truenorth]

Uesquebeathus, If i had you in my presence i would give you a big hug or some other equally acceptable (to you) demonstration of my joy at your reply and it's consequences.In the interests of helping others i will 1st elaborate on what worked. I had tried (before your suggestion) your choice one and it made no change.However i had not tried your choice 2 (and it was defaulted --or selected --to be the floppy as the 1st to be checked). When i followed your instruction to changed it to the "harddrive" it worked right away on reboot. Now if you don't mind in the interest of increasing my knowledge and perhaps that of others i should like to ask you some questions re this event. 1.it has been my experience that "all" computers that have a floppy drive seem to default to the floppy drive as the 1st boot device.I had not changed the default selections on my Presario and even when i did if after experimentation it made no difference i would always go back to "restore defaults" as the last action before shutting down.So why did the computer not work when obviously it was set up to start boot from the floppy as it must have been doing all the hundreds of times it had started that way ok before?2. Is there any likelyhood that as stated in my original post activities on the computer immediately before that shutdown that brought on the failure that something i had done was the cause?If so what?3. Given that i shall be using this transportable USB hardrive between other computers should i be changing the boot sequence on those other computers to harddrive 1st boot device before i create the same problem on them as occured on the Presario?By the way just to complete the "what i did" process: prior to your responce i changed the IDEE cable between the H/D and the motherboard--but that made no difference either.Again thank you you have returned sunshine to anotherwise grey day here. truenorth

[uesquebeathus]

Bag in the old days there were not even floppy drives the first computer I used was a Commodore Pet of which only the second version had a floppy drive. the Legacy factors in computer upgrading and improvements are subject to a lot of discussion by all major companies and any new computer was built with the old hardware etc catered for in the new specification. Thus the floppy drive was set a first boot device and until about two years ago was still first but with the new CPU chips and motherboards floppy drives are  not built into the computer.
Your problem is twofold reseting the BIOS to "default" on a pc depends a lot on the BIOS in the first place as they are all different each company and development created its own instructions regarding what was in the BIOS because of the components and improvements, so you need to look at each BIOS separately.
When you reset the BIOS to default on some it will boot to Floppy or "A", but on newer motherboards it could reset to boot from "D", it could even set the boot device to the CD/DVD rom as some operating systems install from there and some only work from a CD or a DVD.
On most operating systems up until Windows XP the System drive was the first Master drive or "D" ,but XP changed that to the System drive which can be changed to any hard drive or partition of a drive.

[truenorth]

Uesquebeathus,I was sure we had put that dog to bed but it appears not. I am back with exactly the same problem as before.however you will need to know what changes have occurred since it last worked (for a couple of days).I was trying to use that Buffalo (same device that in my opinion created the 1st problem) usb H/D by taking a video file i had created on the Compaq xp-pro machine on one of the partitions of the Buffalo to another win 98se computer.The 98 computer would see the usb drive but none of the h/d partitions. Long story short it was because the 3 partitions were all in NTFS which meant the 98 couldn't see any of them. With the help of Buffalo tech support with great difficulty the 1st of the 3 partitions was changed to be a fat32 partition and a file was created on that partition on the Compaq comp. and could be seen and read then on the 98 machine.However during all of this neither computer was ever shut off.Last night after using both of them with no problems for hours it came time to shut them down for the night (normal practice). When i tried to start the Compaq this AM the same "Boot disk failure is happening again. Selecting option 1 (defaults) does not solve it and returns amongst whatever else it may do the floppy to priority 1. The H/D had been (as you had me change it to) the #1 .I reverted back again to making the H/D #1 and restated--still error message. The current sequence i have set is 1.=H/D 2.=CDrom 3.=floppy 4.=disabled (had been lan before i changed it to disabled) On another of the bios pages the primary master and the prinary slave are again both = none also on the same page the secondary master =dvd-rw and the secondary slave=JLMS XJ-HD166S (don't know what that is but am suspicious of the "HD166S" part as that smells like a H/D. The other thing i did yesterday in order to make the Compaq more suited to what i wanted is i switched the DVD-rw from the 98 machine to the Compaq and switched the CD-Rw from the Compaq to the 98. I was carefull to use the same cables in each case and also set the device jumpers to the exact same place the previous originals had on the replacements.Both functioned perfect after this was done.That represents the sum total of my hardware modifications done since the Compaq last worked fine as per your guidance.If you require more information please advise. i truly appreciate your help and hope you have some ideas where to go now.Thank you. truenorth

[truenorth]

  Problem solved.As i had stated i was transferring vhs video via an external hardware device (ZIO camera mate) to my usb external H/D (ZIO device also connected via USB). I had always assumed that it was the Buffalo H/D that was the culprit.However this morning when starting the computer the Bufallo device was disconnected (actually powered off).Eventually also removed the USB connection but as posted above the problem was still present. Sometime later i started to think what else could be causing this and remembered that the VHS player was off but the usb connection was still connected to the computer. Disconnected it and voila computer is again working. This all seems like a poor compatability situation for the devices that are causing this.If the usb devices are powered off i cannot understand why they should influence computer performance--but obviously they can and do. Hope this may assist others.truenorth

[uesquebeathus]

just to clear up one point the code  LMS XJ-HD166S is for a "Lite-on DVD Drive".

point two when you reset the BIOS to Defaults it will revert back to whatever the Manufacturer had set in your case the default is a floppy drive as first boot device.

It should not be required to keep reseting back to defaults unless there is a problem after the device list has been gathered, which should happen each time the PC is started.

 if the hard drive is changed the details should show in the BIOS correctly otherwise the drive parameters will be faulty.

When you click  F1 and go into the BIOS the first page, where you see the primary and secondary you, should show a "MAIN" use the arrow button here and if possible select the hard drive you have set as your system drive. if they do not show here go into the second windows and make sure of the boot up sequence 1st HD 2nd CD etc.

if not Please check that the Drive IDE flat cables are connected and pushed firmly into place in the motherboard ( there is a notch on one side of the flat connector which is complimentary to the socket )and the drives as well, and power molex plugs are firmly pushed in to the drives.

This link is to the HP/Compaq Web site for guides to  how to refit a drive
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=bph03429&lc=en&cc=us&man_lang=en&dlc=en&product=307768&lang=en

This link is to the HP/Compaq Web site for few other guides
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/documentIndex?lc=en&cc=us&docname=c00001661&man_lang=en&dlc=en&product=307768&lang=en&
 the pictures will amuse you i am sure

one question which may sound strange to you is the computer clock always good or is there some deviation in the time and you have to keep reseting it. there is a small battery on the motherboard about the size of a 10 pence piece if it is flat it can cause problems such as you are having there is a number on it either 2032 or 2035 usually 1.5 volts, they only last a few years at the most, they can be purchased at most electrical stores.

[truenorth]

Uesquebeathus,I am continueing to increase my computer knowledge with each post you are so kind to reply to on this thread.I would like to clear up a couple of points re your comments. 1. Once you had provided the solution (#2 of 2) earlier that did work which was changing the priority boot sequence to make the HDD the 1st drive. i never did change it (other than to experiment after the 2nd problem had occured) and it remained as you had me change it to during the 2nd instance --it was still 1st priority HDD. All other bios settings were never changed.2.That was one of the 1st things i did check (the clock) and in both instances it was absolutely correct date. time etc.Yes i am familiar with the clock battery. I have on other computers removed it and reinstalled it in efforts to overcome other problems. I am not afraid to dive into the inards of a computer in fact just today i completly disasembled (for possible parts) an Aopen old computer and when done all that remained was the metal case and the plastic front panel.However don't ask me to put it back together and guarranty it will work. :)Thanks for the pointer on the Lite On drive ID.Don't recollect seeing the word "main" anywhere on the Boot bios page--maybe but doesn't ring a bell.Yes i certainly did deal with the IDE cable issue (even replaced it for a new one during the 1st timee i had the problem). I am convinced that it is one or the other or maybe even both of these 2 new external usb devices that i have started using coincident to these 2 problems. Given that when the 2nd one occured earlier today the only one of the 2 that was still connected was the Zio Cameramate hardware device and that when i disconnected it and rebooted the computer worked fine. i have so advised Zio and they were very interested and had never had that problem before.Also the strange thing was once i reinstalled the Camaeramate the program for doing the chores was still there but i had to reinstall the device drivers again before i could use it????Thanks for the links i will check them out.I hesitate to ask you for more than you have already provided but could you please look at my other post re Sony Vaio problems on the "software" forum and see if you have any ideas. It is getting down on the list and the only person to comment was fffreaky and that was only to chastise me on an apparent double post.Non intentional --due to inexperience.However when i go to that post now it does not seem possible that others can "reply" as there is no option for me to "reply ' on the post. So i don't know how to fix it if it is broke--the post i mean.I would sure like to get that Vaio working. Much appreciated. Thank you,truenorth

[uesquebeathus]

The only other option for the usb devices is either a hub or a pci usb card.

The latter is the my primary option as pci cards with usb2.0 specification and this would most likely give you four usb 2.0 connections, is often better at supporting legacy usb1.0 components.

But the main improvement would be to lift the whole environment into the pci cards own bios therefore out of the computer motherboard interface.
  
Whereas a hub would still be connected to the pc through the original usb 1.0 motherboard connections.

Although to complicate matters a little a hub can still be connected to a pci usb cards if you went along and purchased one and therefore give more options at usb2.0 performance.  

I will have a look for the Vaio notes

[uesquebeathus]

the vaio note
”multi (0) disk (0) Rdisk (0) partition (1) windows\system32\drivers\MUP.SYS”
should read more like
”multi (0) disk (0) Rdisk (0) partition (1) \windows="Microsoft Windows XP Professional"/noexecute=optin /fastdetect
it sounds very much like its is trying to boot into an installation which has been interrupted. without going into it to far and trying to find out why it is wrong yu would be better to reformat and then a clean reinstall a new operating system, if you have the discs and serial numbers go ahead.  

[uesquebeathus]

Sony Bios access is by "F2"or the "esc" key at the boot start

[truenorth]

Uesquebeathus,You are an absolute gem.Just to deal with the USB item 1st.I did have the Zio hardware connected via a usb expandable 4 slot extender when the problem 1st occured with it.i have since removed the expander(which was plugged into the rear usb slot on the computer) (2 rear-2 front) and now plug it into one of the rear slots directly.However last night i actually removed the zio (physically) before i shut the computer down.i did a "restart" just to see what would happen and it rebooted back ok.Then i shut it down for the night and have not restarted it yet today.I have a premanition that again i will find that in order to use the functions of the Zio device i will again have to install the video/audio drivers. A pain in the neck but if i must live with that i can.I mentioned that i tore an old Aopen comp. apart yesterday and re your other point there was a PCI =Usb card in it. Which made sense as the computer did not come with any USB slots. However as noted this fairly new Compaq (2002) does have 4 usb slots.Therefore i am a bit mysyified why it would be an advantage to use one of the only 2 remaining pci slots to install a pci=usb card??
  Now to the Vaio. I am so pleased that you have come on board on that one.Did you find that you also could not access the reply on that post? I would have preffered to have continued the dialogue on that problem on that post--not so much for me but for others that may benifit from it.I take note of your comments and though obviously not as advanced knowledgewise as you i do believe that is exactly what the problem is (an interupted process).I have no problem with the reformat new O/S install as i do have the xp-pro sp2 with key on a cd-r.However i must tell you i have never done this so i will require guidance if you are able.i shall be away from home all day today but i shall be in a position to do anything you recommend tomorrow ( i give myself all day Sundays to get in over my head with computer issues). I love them so much if i didn't restrict myself i would be at them all day everyday.Thanks again for all your guidance and knowledge.truenorth